Bird Flu: Delhi Bans Sale Of Chicken
The Delhi civic bodies also warned hotels and restaurants of action if they served egg-based dishes or poultry meat
New Delhi: The North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations have banned the sale of chicken in their respective regions, following confirmation of bird flu cases in the national capital. The civic bodies also warned hotels and restaurants of action if they served egg-based dishes or poultry meat.
The bans came shortly after the Health Department asked people not to panic and follow a set of dos and don’ts, including not eating half-cooked chicken and half-boiled or half-fried eggs.
“H5N8 is highly pathogenic in birds but the pathogenicity in humans, as well as the likelihood of human infection with avian influenza (AH5N8) virus, is low,” the notification said.
It also cautioned people against touching dead birds, and said the control room – which can be contacted on 011-23890318 – should be notified in such cases.
The Health Department notification said: “Eat only completely cooked eggs and poultry products cooked at 70 degree Celsius for 30 minutes. Do not consume half-cooked chicken or bird or half-boiled and half-fried eggs.”
The warnings come after several ducks at the city’s Sanjay Lake and a large number of crows across various city parks were found dead in the past week. Eight samples – four from a park in Mayur Vihar Phase 3, three from Sanjay Lake and one from Dwarka – were sent to a Bhopal-based laboratory and all eight tested positive for avian influenza.
Following the positive tests the Delhi government sanitised the Sanjay Lake area and, as a precautionary move, shut down the Ghazipur poultry market and imposed a ban on sale of processed and packaged chicken from outside the city.
“The Delhi government is making all efforts to check the spread of bird flu and monitoring the situation. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is constantly in touch with officials. There is no need to panic as bird flu does not spread from one person to another,” Manish Sisodia said this week.
Bird flu cases have also been confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Now you can get latest stories from Indtoday on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe. Click to follow Indtoday Facebook page and Twitter and on Instagram
Comments are closed.